Riginos Corinna, Kimuyu Duncan M, Veblen Kari E, Porensky Lauren M, Odadi Wilfred O, Sensenig Ryan L, Wells Harry B M, Young Truman P
The Nature Conservancy, Lander, Wyoming, USA.
Department of Natural Resources, Karatina University, Karatina, Kenya.
Ecol Lett. 2024 Dec;27(12):e14466. doi: 10.1111/ele.14466.
The Kenya long-term exclosure experiment (KLEE) was established in 1995 in semi-arid savanna rangeland to examine the separate and combined effects of livestock, wildlife and megaherbivores on their shared environment. The long-term nature of this experiment has allowed us to measure these effects and address questions of stability and resilience in the context of multiple drought-rainy cycles. Here we outline lessons learned over the last 29 years, and how these inform a fundamental tension in long-term studies: how to balance the need for question-driven research with the intangible conviction that long-term data will yield valuable findings. We highlight the value of (1) identifying experimental effects that take many years to manifest, (2) quantifying the effects of different years (including droughts) and (3) capturing the signatures of anthropogenic change. We also highlight the potential for long-term studies to create a collaborative community of scientists that brings new questions and motivates continued long-term study.
肯尼亚长期围栏实验（KLEE）于1995年在半干旱稀树草原牧场建立，旨在研究牲畜、野生动物和大型食草动物对其共享环境的单独和综合影响。该实验的长期性使我们能够测量这些影响，并在多个干旱-多雨周期的背景下解决稳定性和恢复力问题。在此，我们概述过去29年学到的经验教训，以及这些经验如何揭示长期研究中的一个基本矛盾：如何在问题驱动研究的需求与长期数据将产生有价值发现的无形信念之间取得平衡。我们强调了以下几点的价值：（1）识别需要多年才能显现的实验效果；（2）量化不同年份（包括干旱年份）的影响；（3）捕捉人为变化的特征。我们还强调了长期研究创建一个科学家合作社区的潜力，这个社区能带来新问题并激发持续的长期研究。
